


And So the Dogs of War Sing Their Song

by cathybites



Category: Dog Soldiers (2002)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-20
Updated: 2011-04-20
Packaged: 2017-10-18 10:04:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/187739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathybites/pseuds/cathybites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He survived the night. Now what?</p>
            </blockquote>





	And So the Dogs of War Sing Their Song

**Author's Note:**

> written for Truth in the Yuletide 2006 Challenge. betaed by Kos.

Gun fires.

Ryan dies.

And Cooper knows he has to get out, has to run and find help and try to make some sense of the complete fuckup of the last few hours. His leg twitches, the heel of his boot scraping against the cellar floor, but he doesn't move, just stares at the mass of blood and fur before him.

Ryan's last breath stutters out from his snout, and Cooper slumps back against the wall. He takes a breath of his own, feels the complaint in his ribs, and something inside him twists on itself. He coughs up a bark of laughter, razor-sharp with hysteria, and slams his fist into the ground.

His nerves calm down, and he shakes his head, mouth quirked in a bittersweet smirk. He hums, low at first, then louder, the words coming to him slowly. Eyes falling shut, he rests his head against the wall and sings.

"My mother said I never should, play with the gypsies in the wood..."

\-----

"Come back to collect your things, then?"

Sarge didn't lift his head as he spoke, thumbing through the papers in his hand, but Cooper caught the flash of his eyes as he glanced his way.

"No. Didn't work out." Sarge's head jerked up at those words, brow wrinkled in curious surprise, and Cooper shrugged before taking a seat. "Me and the captain, we had a bit of a disagreement."

"Pissing off your superiors again, is that it?" The tone was disapproving, but the curl at the corner of Sarge's mouth wasn't, and relief settled in Cooper's bones, setting him at ease.

"I just felt guilty about leaving you here alone with these useless bastards."

A snort from Sarge at that, and his foot kicked out to thump against Cooper's shin. "Mind yourself, Coop. That mouth of yours is going leave your arse hanging in the wind one of these days."

Cooper kicks back, smiling. "And what concern of yours is my arse?"

The grin on Sarge's face grows wider, spreading across his face until all Cooper can see are his teeth, gleaming white and sharper than blades. His eyes flash gold and before Cooper can even piss himself, Sarge lunges for him.

\-----

He wakes up with a start and his hand shoots out automatically for his pistol. He's on his feet, finger on the trigger, before he remembers where he is, what had happened. Eyes blinking, Cooper looks around the cellar, faded sunlight falling through the cracks of the rubble above him. The whole place reeks of burnt wood and the rot of death, and stumbles over Ryan's corpse to get to the stairs.

A whine comes from behind him and he spins so fast he nearly topples over, gripping his gun so tightly he can feel the bones in his hands creak. "Fuck," he breathes out when he sees Sam. The dog drops to his forelegs, head on his paws, and whines again. "Yeah, come on then," Cooper says, waving for Sam to come to him. "Let's get the fuck out of here." He's about to climb the stairs when a glint of metal catches his eye. The sword he'd pulled out of Captain Ryan, gleaming dully in the dim light. There's an itch inside him at the sight of it, something that pulls tight underneath his skin before shivering loose through his bones, and he grabs it without thought.

There is barely anything left of the house when he emerges from the cellar, just a bit of the front wall standing like a barricade against the outside. Somehow, the door is still intact, although blackened from the blast. A huff of laughter at that, and he opens it, pausing to take one last look around. The smoking debris behind him gives no clue as to what had happened to Sarge, but it's easy enough to imagine.

Sam comes up behind him, cold nose pressing against his leg. Cooper lets out a breath, looking out at the grey countryside, then back down at the dog. "Time to get going," he says, and heads for the road. He thinks about gathering the remains of his mates, giving them a proper burial, but all he wants is to get the fuck away from the farmhouse before he passes out.

Besides, he tells himself, it's not as if there's enough of anyone to bury.

Somewhere out of sight, a bird starts singing, then another. Cooper grins and after a moment, joins in. "They tugged my hair and broke my comb; I'll tell my mither when I get home..."

\-----

He doesn't know how long he walks, only that while still grey, the sky is lighter and his legs are shaking badly enough that he has to sit. There has yet to be a single car on the road, and Cooper has a crazy moment of thinking perhaps the entire world - or at least the whole of Scotland - has been killed off by the werewolves.

"S'not possible," he mutters, and Sam makes an inquiring whine. "Don't worry," he tells Sam, patting his head, "we'll be fine."

At least as soon as he gets some rest, he thinks, pausing to catch his breath. He can't tell what's broken or what's bleeding anymore, but he knows he needs to stop and clean his wounds. He remembers seeing a stream in the forest, but he's hesitant to enter it again.

He just needs to rest, he thinks. Just close his eyes for a short minute and rest.

\-----

Spoon stands before him, that same shit-eating grin on his face that he always has, but half his teeth are knocked out, and his face is dark with bruises and blood. Cooper remembers his earlier dream, and he tenses, wondering if Spoon is going to attack him, too.

"That was a fuckin' pisser, weren't it?" he says, and Cooper can't do anything but nod. His eyes fall to Spoon's chest, ripped open, the ribs splayed apart like some sort of bizarre modern art piece. "Not surprised you were the one to actually pull through, fuckin' stubborn Scottish bastard. Although I would've thought the Sarge would make a go of it, but I guess his clock ran out right at the start there."

"He was the one who lit the place up, blew those bloody fucks to pieces."

Nodding, Spoon grins even wider. "Knew he'd go out fighting one day. Just thought it'd be fighting enemy combatants or some shite like that."

Somehow, although he's bleeding all over the place, Spoon looks almost spotless. Clean and unsoiled in a way he never had been when he'd been alive. "Well, they were, weren't they? In a way."

"Yeah," Spoon says with a laugh. "I guess they were." Suddenly, his expression turns serious. "Ears and eyes open, mate," he says, eyes and voice gone dark. "Remember the enemy always has agents in the field."

The air surrounding them turns ice-cold, and Cooper blinks. Just for a second, but Spoon disappears in that time. "Wait! Bloody fuckin' hell, Spoon, what does that mean?"

The skin on the back his neck crawls and he spins around, but there's nothing there, just the faint echo of Spoon's words.

\-----

Something wet slides across his face and Cooper yells, arms flailing. He makes contact and there's a yelp as he opens his eyes to see Sam backing away from him.

"Shite," he says, grimacing. "Sorry about that, mate." He holds his hand out, and Sam whines before stepping closer, sniffing at him, then pushing his nose into Cooper's hand.

He realizes that it's fallen dark again, and he swears as he scrambles to his feet. There's the vague memory of a warning that whispers in his mind, something he'd dreamt about, but other than an uneasy feeling, nothing comes to him. Shrugging it off, he starts down the road again.

He takes about five steps before he notices Sam's not following, and he twists around to look at the dog. "C'mon," he says, but Sam faces the opposite direction, ears pricked and body tense. The uneasy feeling grows when he hears the low growl coming from the dog. "C'mon, Sam," he says again, walking over quickly and tugging on his collar, "let's get a move on."

Sam's growl grows louder and he barks once, then again before finally turning. Cooper glances down the road. There's nothing to be seen but the dark shapes of trees and wisps of fog, but it's enough to set him on edge, and he holds the sword a little tighter before he continues walking.

The road before him lies empty, and Cooper can't shake the feeling that it's going to be another long night.


End file.
